Although he is sticking safely near the rocks of the South Wall, Stephen can
"see the tide flowing quickly in on all sides, sheeting the
lows of sand quickly, shellcocoacoloured," and he is acutely
aware of the danger posed by the incoming seawater.
In the blog accompanying his photo of a warning sign at
right, Dara Connolly writes, "This warning is no joke, and I
didn’t take it lightly. I am no stranger to the risks of
incoming tide, having got into serious trouble in the past and
been lucky to survive. On this occasion I made sure that when
the tide turned, we would be on our way back, even if we had
not reached the edge of the sand." Beyond the sign, "the sea
had retreated very far, almost out of sight. The two ships
visible on the horizon look odd, almost as if they are sailing
across the sand." But even though the sands stretch on for
miles, their shellcocoacoloured shelf will be covered very
quickly, and irregularly, by the incoming tide, threatening to
trap walkers on rapidly shrinking islands.
Despite his safe position near the boulders, then, the tidal
flats give Stephen ample opportunity to contemplate his morbid fear of drowning.
